Will's New Life
by Phoenix Risin
Summary: Modernfic! Will's off to another foster home...again. But his new foster parents are... mysterious. They act as if they're trying to hide something. And on top of that, there's school. Being the new kid sucks, especially because Horace seems to enjoy bullying him. Not to mention he's got a crush on one of the most popular girls in the school. Yeah, Will's new life is looking tough.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! So... it's been a good while hasn't it? Well I'm back! I dunno how long there will be in between updates, but I'll try to do it every weekend! I might even add a bonus chapter tonight yet :) Well, please read and review! Suggestions for a different title are welcome!**

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15 year old Will was in the backseat of Mr. Pine's car on the way to a new foster home... again. This was basically an annual thing. Will has been in eleven foster homes since he was a baby, so this was nothing new to him. Except this time he couldn't sit in the front seat because there were too many papers and files about him on the seat to fit him on it.

"Hey, Pines, can you _please_ switch the radio station?" Will asked from his seat in the Dodge Charger.

"What's wrong with jazz?" Pines asked, looking in the rear view mirror.

"Everything! It's basically just made up music, there's no art to it."

"It's talent."

"For the untalented."

This was the usual banter between these two. They never seemed to get along on anything, whether it was the music selection or whether to eat at McDonald's or Burger King.

"Well it's better then that 90's pop you always listen to," Mr. Pines continued with the argument.

"Whatever."

Mr. Pines rolled his eyes and continued driving. After a few minutes Mr. Pines hesitated before saying, "Look, kid, I know that this is your tenth-"

"Twelfth," Will interrupted.

"-Twelfth foster home but try going into it with a positive attitude. I mean, it's a fresh start, new home, new town, new school, new friends, it's a great opportunity for you."

Will snorted. "That's what you said last time, and look how _that_ turned out."

"Well maybe this time it'll be different."

"Maybe, maybe, maybe, I'm sick of maybe's."

"Just give them a chance like they're giving you one."

Will just slumped in his seat and all you could hear for the rest of the ride was the jazz music coming through the radio.

_**A half hour later**_

Mr. Pines and Will stood in front of a decent sized cozy looking house. Mr. Pines rang the doorbell and they only had to wait a few seconds before the door was opened by a tall, graceful looking woman who looked to be in her middle forty's. A man, who appeared to be shorter then the woman was stood beside her. He had salt and pepper colored hair and beard.

"Hello Mr. Pines," the woman said.

"Hello," Mr. Pines answered before turning to Will saying, "Will, meet your new foster parents: Halt and Pauline O'Carrick."

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** Shocker? Eh, probably not! :D Anyways, what'd y'all think?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's that bonus chap :) With 1,180 words, not including the authors notes :)**

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Will was in the living room of his new home, taking a look around. The adults were in the kitchen, discussing things and signing papers.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Will heard his social worker Mr. Pines ask Halt and Pauline. Will probably wasn't supposed to hear what they were saying, but rules never stopped him in the past so why would they now?

"Of course we're sure!" Halt said in that gruff tone of his.

"I'm just saying, Will can be quite a handful. He gets into trouble constantly. I mean, he's been in juvenile hall at least three times and he gets kicked out of school constantly."

"All he needs is someone to care for him, and we will," Pauline said. Will scoffed, as if he hadn't heard that before!

"Okay then, sign here, here, and here," Mr. Pines said and Will heard pages being flipped.

After a minute or so Will could hear the chairs screech and Mr. Pines saying, "Good luck with him."

"You do realize he can hear you, right?" Halt asked Mr. Pines and Will couldn't help but be shocked. How did he know I could hear him? Will thought.

"Bye, Will," Mr. Pines said.

Will walked into the kitchen and said, "Later, Pines."

With that, Mr. Pines left the house.

Will turned to his new foster parents, expecting to see that look that said 'Great! Social worker's out of here! We can do whatever we want with him now!' But instead they were smiling at him. Scratch that, Pauline was smiling at him, Halt's face was grim, which Will suspected to be his usual expression.

"Your room is upstairs, second door to the left," Halt said.

"OK," Will replied and carried his luggage to his room. It was a simple room, a bed against the wall, a desk facing a window, a nightstand, a dresser, and a closet.

Will flopped, face-up onto his bed and sighed. He couldn't wait until he was eighteen, no more adults telling him where to live, how to live... just pure freedom. And no more stinking foster homes.

Will got up and looked out the window. He could run, he wanted to run. It wouldn't be the first time, he's done it many times before. But he decided that he owed it to Mr. Pines to stay for at least a little while. Poor guy had enough trouble finding him a foster home that would take him.

"Will! Supper's ready!" Pauline called from the kitchen.

Will sighed. First meals were always the most awkward, but he went downstairs anyway. Halt was sitting at the head of the table and Pauline motioned for Will to sit on the left side of him, while she took the right.

"So, Will, is your full name William?" Pauline asked while serving everyone mashed potatoes.

Will tensed, he hated this part. "I don't know my real name. All I know is that my first name is Will. The foster agency gave me my last name."

"How can you not know your full name?"

"Didn't Mr. Pines give you papers with all my information?"

"Yes, but Halt just signed them before reading them."

Halt scoffed. "It takes too much time, besides, paper doesn't tell you what a person's like, getting to know them does."

"Unless you're trying to figure out their name," Will stated.

All was quiet until Pauline broke the ice, again. "Tell us a bit about yourself, Will."

"There's nothing to tell, really."

"Well what are some of your interests? Do you like animals?"

Wow, what an original question, Will answered mentally. "No, not much. I had too much experience running from police dogs." Will had meant it as a joke, but the couple seemed to have taken it seriously.

"Uh, well what do you guys do?" Will asked.

"Pauline and I both work for Life Saving Insurance, it's not very popular."

Insurance? Will thought. Halt and Pauline certainly did not look the type.

The trio finished their meal in silence and, afterwards, Will decided to turn in early. But he couldn't help but keep thinking, Halt and Pauline? Working at Life Saving Insurance?

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Will woke up at around eight o'clock and groaned. Today was his first day at his new school. Oh joy.

He got up and got dressed in simple jeans, a t-shirt, and a black hoodie. He went downstairs and saw that Pauline made breakfast: eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee.

"Good morning, Will," Pauline said.

"Morning," he replied. He looked around and saw that Halt was sitting in the living room, reading the morning's paper and drinking coffee. On the front page was a picture of a small house that had been broken into. "What happened?" Will asked.

Halt looked up and raised one eyebrow. "What happened with what?"

"The front page, who broke into the house?"

"A couple of rambunctious teenagers," came the careless reply. Will decided that it wouldn't be wise to mention that he himself has broken into houses several times before.

"I made breakfast, Will," Pauline said.

"I don't normally eat breakfast," Will replied.

"Well while you live here you eat breakfast. And you better hurry, school starts soon."

Will quickly chowed down his breakfast, then Halt and Pauline gave him a ride to school on their way to work since he didn't know where it was.

Araluen High looked like any other high school. Boring. Will walked to the principal's office, got his schedule, and walked to his locker. Will put most of his stuff in his locker, only keeping out what he'd need for first period. Just as Will was closing his locker door he saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was tall, blond, graceful, had grey eyes, and was just stunning. Will could've sworn he was drooling. She walked past him and Will continued to stare after her. That is, until some bug dude blocked his view and started walking to him. He was at least a head taller then Will, if not more.

The big dude saw that Will had been staring at the girl and smirked, saying, "Dude, you got no chance with Alyss Mainwaring. She's the most popular girl in the school, she'd never go out with a newbie like you."

Will decided to play it innocent. "I wasn't staring at her, I was looking at, um, the sign above the lockers over there."

"Sure you were." Then Big Dude leaned closer and whispered so only Will could hear, "Stay away from her. I rock this school and it wouldn't look good if a newbie like you were to date Alyss Mainwaring. So stay away from her." He backed away, and he and Will glared at each other before Big Dude turned and walked off.

"Great," Will muttered o himself. "First day and I already made an enemy."

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**IDK, did that work? Or was it awkward? Let me know in a review! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I got reviews! I was so happy! Thanks guys! Responses are at the bottom :) Oh, I homeschool so I dunno much about public high schools, if there's anything wrong please don't hesitate to let me know :) Words in italics are Will's thoughts**

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Will was on his way to his first class, History, when his books slipped and papers flew everywhere! Will swore as he started to gather his stuff and put the papers into his binder. He swore again as he heard the final bell and attempted to hurry with gathering his papers, which only resulted in bigger mess.

The halls were just about empty when a short and, let's be honest, round blond girl rushed up to him and said, "Here, let me help you."

Will smiled and said, "Thanks."

"Are you new?"

"Uh, yeah, just moved here."

"Sweet, my name's Jenny."

"I'm Will."

"Nice to meet you, Will."

"Likewise. Aren't you gonna be late for class?"

"Yes, but Mr. Brookes is a very understanding person. What's your first subject?"

"History."

Jenny's face seemed to light up even more. "So is mine! Come on, we'd better get going."

After going up a few stairs and down a few halls, they finally made it to the right classroom. Jenny walked in, Will on her heels.

The teacher, an older fellow with brown but graying hair turned and said, "Jennifer, you're late."

"Yes, sir, but this student is new and he dropped some papers so I helped him clean it up and then we came here," Jenny said, not even pausing to take a breath.

"Ah, you must be Will." Mr. Brookes turned to Will.

"I must be," Will replied.

"Go ahead and take a seat."

One seat was on the left side of the room while the other was on the right side. Jenny had already taken the one on the left, and the one on the right was next to Alyss. Will remembered Big Dude's threat, but he shrugged it off, Big Dude wasn't in this class anyways. So, after putting his "bad boy swag" on he walked to his spot.

Alyss turned to him and said, "Hello, I'm Alyss."

Will couldn't help but stare at her. Gosh, her voice reminded him of a calm river. Will realized he must've been staring so he said, "I know."

Alyss raised an eyebrow and Will mentally slapped himself. _Seriously, do you get any stupider then that_?

"I mean, I've heard," Will said, attempting to fix the conversation.

"I see," was all Alyss said before they focused on the lesson.

Not two minutes later someone threw a ball of paper at him while the teacher wasn't looking. Will grabbed it and unfolded it. Someone had written, "Dude, you're really 404, do you seriously think she's gonna give you an aussie kiss if you keep talking like that?" Will looked around, but he could see nobody that would be a prime suspect. So he just crumpled it back up and after class threw it into the garbage.

That's basically how it went until school was over. Will decided to walk back to his new home since he memorized the way anyway. When he got there he realized that Halt's Dodge Ram 2500 and Pauline's Mercedes was in the parking lot.

The first thing Will smelled when he walked in was coffee. Then he heard luggage being dragged down the stairs and Pauline saying, "Now are you sure you have everything?"

"Yes, Pauline," came Halt's impatient answer.

"But Will just got here yesterday."

_ Are they seriously kicking me out after the first day?_

"Well I have no choice, Pauline, I have to go to China and that's that."

_OK, looks like I'll be staying a bit longer._

Will walked into the living room where Halt and Pauline were.

"Hello, Will, how was your first day at school?"

"Ill," Will replied.

"Excuse me?"

"Slang term for lousy."

"Well today was your first day, tomorrow will be better."

Will turned to Halt. "Goin' somewhere?"

"I'm going to China on a business trip, I'll be back tomorrow by two."

_China? What employee for an insurance company goes to China on a business trip?_

"Although," Halt continued, "I distinctly remember my boss Crowley saying that next time someone else would go. But he decided that I should go instead. I swear he enjoys annoying me."

"Dude, that's A and B the C of D."

"Will, I already know my ABC's. Anyway," he turned to Pauline giving her a quick kiss. "I'll see you two tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Halt," Pauline said.

"Laters," Will said and Halt was off. But Will still kept thinking, _What employee for an insurance company goes to China on a business trip?_

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**Before I get to the responses, I jut want to let you know that I decided that I should add some British slang, seeing a this is technically supposed to be in England, if I'm not mistaken. But do not fear! I will have a glossary down here for any British slang words that I'll use :)**

**Glossary-**

** 404: Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error message '404 Not Found' meaning that the requested document could not be located.**

**Aussie Kiss: Similar to a French Kiss.**

**A and B the C of D: Above and Beyond the Call of Duty.**

**Laters: Cheerio, goodbye**

** Review Responses:**

** moniquebowman: Lol, I was trying to think up something... different to what you think a social worker might listen to so my first thought was jazz :) I'm so glad I got him in character! I was honestly terrified that he'd be way out of character! Lol, Life Saving Insurance... sounds fishy, dontcha think? ;) As for Arald being the principal... I'm liking the idea! Do you know what his and Jenny's last names are? Thanks for reading!**

**3326freespirit: Glad to hear it! :))) Only time will tell, it honestly bugs me when in AU fics Will and Horace are friends right away, so they're definitely not gonna get along right away. Lol, it's always how I pictured him to be in the modern world! And for some reason I always thought that he'd listen to 90'2 pop... I'm way too obsessed with the Backstreet Boys... I just recently discovered them! Man I wished I was a teen during the 90's! Anyway, thanks for reading! :)**

**Follows/favs:**

** Caithlinn13 and atrocitarian: Thanks! :)**


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